Spooky Frog Horrifying Books Podcast

Hosts Samantha and Jeffy dig into CJ Leede’s American Rapture, a disturbing coming‑of‑age horror that mixes evangelical purity culture, puberty, body horror and a biblical apocalypse set in small‑town Wisconsin. They discuss pandemic parallels, House on the Rock and local Wisconsin details, trade travel and food tangents, give trigger warnings for graphic violence and emotional trauma, and recomme...

Check the back of your skull and say your prayers: for the 50th anniversary of The Omen, the Spooky Frog Podcast unpacks Richard Donner’s slow-burn 1976 thriller about an American diplomat who unknowingly raises the antichrist amid elite privilege, eerie photography, chilling practical effects and a trail of gruesome, iconic deaths. Hosts Jeffy and Samantha mix reverent analysis, pop-culture lore-...

A tangled horror puzzle unfolds across decades: a woman on the run, a secretive team of scientists, and revelations that force you to confront mortality. Samantha and Jeffy recap chaotic events—from a monstrous Blood Rave to indie film rants—then dive into Jared Waltz’s Morrowbound, a fast-paced sci-fi-horror puzzle that leaves you staring at the ceiling. They discuss the novel’s layered structure...

Pack your bags and check your pulse. This episode tears through a 90s crime thriller that flips into a neon-soaked, blood-drenched vampire siege. Hosts Jeffy and Samantha break down From Dusk Till Dawn’s genre-switching brilliance, iconic performances (including Salma Hayek’s unforgettable dance), Tarantino vibes, practical effects, and the wild survival tactics you’d want at the Titty Twister. Fr...

Hosts Samantha and Jeffy dive into Chuck Tingle’s horror novel Bury Your Gays, unpacking how the internet’s most absurd author uses humor and performance to deliver sharp social commentary. They discuss themes of queer erasure in Hollywood, corporate Pride, conversion therapy, and the rise of algorithm-driven, AI-generated monsters that turn creative work into real-world horror. The episode mixes...

Five restless romantics shelter in Byron's rain-soaked villa, hold a seance with a human skull, and unleash the hallucinatory terrors that would define gothic literature. Drug-fueled visions, erotic dread, and surreal practical effects turn a competitive ghost-story night into a chaotic birth of monsters. This episode dives into Ken Russell’s flamboyant reimagining of that infamous weekend—an into...

This episode explores Nick Cave’s debut novel And the Ass Saw the Angel, unpacking its Southern Gothic themes—religious fanaticism, violence, incest, and a fractured narrator named Eucrid—alongside vivid anecdotes about meeting the author, music influences, and the book’s raw, hallucinatory style. The hosts also share behind-the-scenes stories from a busy book fair, discuss music and cult bands, r...

Forget the prince, this episode dives into the 1972 eco-horror cult classic Frogs, a swampy southern gothic nightmare where Mother Nature fights back against a wealthy family’s pollution. Between eerie bullfrog choruses, inventive kills (including strangling Spanish moss) and a menagerie of reptiles reclaiming a poisoned greenhouse, the film is equal parts atmospheric and ridiculous. The hosts rif...

Two bad decisions, reading a stranger's diary and falling for its author. Pull bookstore worker Ellen into a dark obsession. As she keeps reading, the dairy's entries begin to mirror gruesome murders in the city, and she must choose whether to trust the charming man she's dating or the chilling words on the page. This episode of the Spooky Frog Podcast explores Brian Pinkerton's Killer's Diary, it...

For the 50th anniversary of Jeff Lieberman’s 1976 eco‑horror Squirm, we trek into the Georgia backwoods to revisit a low‑budget creature feature where an electrical storm turns ordinary earthworms into carnivorous nightmares. We unpack the film’s practical effects (millions of real worms and early Rick Baker work), its MST3K immortality, the film’s unintentional zaniness, and why this slimy cult c...

What if the scariest thing about a mall isn't what's in it, but what it remembers? In this episode Samantha and Jeffy dive into the anthology Escalators from Hell, discussing liminal-space horror tales featuring hungry escalators, watching mannequins, addictive machines, and dying malls. They cover standout stories, author backgrounds, and related books and films while sharing offbeat banter and b...

Jeffy and Samantha celebrate Critters' 40th anniversary, breaking down New Line Cinema’s 1986 creature feature: the ravenous Krytes, two deadpan bounty hunters, and a farmhouse under siege driven by practical puppetry from the Chiodo Brothers. They cover cast highlights, Gremlins comparisons, practical effects vs. CGI, the film’s blend of horror and comedy, survival tactics, and why this messy, fu...

On this episode of the Spooky Frog Podcast, Samantha and Jeffy dive into Nick Cutter's The Queen. A one-day, body-horror nightmare about a missing girl, twisted science, and a transformation that becomes the goal. They follow the breadcrumb mystery, the pheromone-driven hive mind, and the escalating physical changes that erase a sense of self. The hosts discuss themes of friendship and grief amid...

Imagine the ultimate weekend getaway: a private island, old college friends, and a hostess obsessed with elaborate pranks. What starts as trick cigars and collapsing chairs quickly spirals into severed heads and bloody clues — and suddenly the joke isn’t funny anymore. This 1980s-style slasher blends horror, dark comedy, and mystery as the final girl, Kit, navigates a booby-trapped mansion where e...

On a routine work trip, salesman Jason drives into Riverton and discovers he can't leave. The town traps newcomers in a repeating, inescapable loop where dying only brings you back and the environment shifts to prevent escape. As Jason learns the rules (respawn points, a wary town cop, a mysterious girl, and unsettling townspeople) he and others struggle with survival, curiosity, and the crushing...

Jeffy and Samantha dive into a wild John Landis–era vampire mob movie: a French vampire named Marie prowls 1992 Pittsburgh feeding on criminals and accidentally turns mob boss Sal into an undead godfather. They break down the film’s neon-noir tone, explosive practical gore effects, memorable cameos (including Sam Raimi and Don Rickles), and its mix of horror, dark comedy and moral questions about...

Hosts Samantha and Jeffy discuss Justin Holley’s psychological thriller To Cut a Man, about Annette, a woman with PTSD who skips medication on a weekend getaway and begins to notice the same strangers trailing her at every stop. Dismissed as anxiety by her polite boyfriend Sebastian, Annette must trust her instincts, rely on her service dog Nu, and use her prepper skills when the threat proves rea...

This episode dissects Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, a slow-burning, atmospheric film about immortal artists grappling with a decaying world. The hosts debate the movie’s pacing, hipster aesthetics, and standout performances from Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton. They explore the Detroit vs. Tangiers contrast, the vinyl-and-blood motifs, Eve and Adam’s differing responses to modernity, and...

Some towns have history, some towns have secrets-this episode of the Spooky Frog uses R.L. Stine’s One Evil Summer as a gateway to explore the Fear Street universe, its place in the rise of 80s-90s YA horror, and how paperbacks, VHS and school book fairs made teen terror accessible. The hosts mix personal nostalgia with analysis of the books’ lore, the Netflix films, and the cultural backlash of t...

In this episode the hosts Jeffy and Spencer dive into Near Dark (1987), a gritty vampire-western scored by Tangerine Dream. They discuss the film’s sunlit-then-twilight visuals, slow-burn pacing, violent set pieces (including the infamous bar massacre), and the nomadic “family” of vampires who feel more like dusty drifters than aristocrats. They compare Near Dark to other 80s vampire films like Th...

On this episode of the Spooky Frog Podcast hosts Samantha and Jeffy dig into In the Clurb we're all Monsters, a glitter-soaked, blood-spattered queer horror romp by Freak & Asher. They discuss the chaotic opening of Club Hedonia run by the narcissistic Dorian Gray, hallucinogenic drinks, disco spiders, and the messy, sex-fueled attempt of two best friends to repair their bond while monsters an...

Hosts Jeffy and Samantha dive into House II, an over-the-top 1980s horror-comedy packed with a crystal skull, an undead party-loving Gramps, dinosaurs, cowboys, puppetry creatures, and plenty of practical effects and synthy soundtrack vibes. They describe the film as light, goofy schlock. PG-friendly gateway horror with slapstick violence, quirky characters (including a John Ratzenberger cameo), a...

On this episode of the Spooky Frog Podcast, Jeffy and Sam discuss Peter O'Keefe’s novella White Flight: a haunted-house story where the walls remember violence, a Black teen’s death at the hands of police looms large, and grief and paranoia take over a family’s life. They explore the book’s blend of gothic, grief, and cosmic horror, its confrontation of racism and state violence, and what the stor...

We dig into the 1987 cult classic The Lost Boys — how Joel Schumacher transformed it into MTV-era vampires on leather and motorcycles, the film's iconic soundtrack and gonzo 80s style, the standout scenes, and why it still matters to goth and vampire fans. Along the way we announce podcast changes (book & movie club scheduling), new merch ideas like pins and stickers, upcoming events (Goth Bar...

Hosts Samantha and Jeffy dive into Kassidy Van Gundy’s Cursed Images, a short-story collection of nostalgia-driven, techno-age horror. From Y2K panic and hacked Tamagotchis to eerie Webkinz and after-hours Blockbuster chills, the episode explores how early digital life warps memory and fear. Along the way they share personal stories — book mail unboxings, vasectomy misadventures, mixtape memories,...